1st Attempt at Problem Solving

[Brad Sewell]

It's long. No hard feelings if you bail out now.

So while most of you were enjoying some brand of Midwestern BBQ or some sort of Italian sausage I am not completely comfortable talking about in most social circles I made my first real attempt at turning wrenches on my car.

I have been having the intermittent no-start problem and despite the local Chebby dealer "fixing" my INFL REST problem, the silly light keeps coming on. I tackled both on this rainy Sunday.

I am not a shade tree mechanic. Not even close. And my previous experience and qualifications include changing the Penzoil in my 1991 Camaro circa 1995. That's about it.

But I work on power wheelchairs for a living and I am good at homework.

It is entirely possible that the no-start problem is the starter, but it seems like most of those ordeals either get chalked up to a weak battery or a bad ground somewhere along the way. So on Hib's suggestion I had ordered a new Odyssey. The Odyssey stays charged longer when the cars sits undriven and since the gases are recirculated inside the battery there is no future corrosion on the terminals to deal with.

I got the side panel off and the old battery out without much trouble. The bottom bolts on the battery box are a little tight, but a 3/8 ratchet with an extension and a universal joint did the trick.

The A/B sensor was right where it was supposed to be, but it was "glopped" to the frame with rtv or some other kind of black goop. Thank you Chebby. I had already scraped away enough in this photo to get the thing off, but you get the picture.

http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r535/brad_sewell/Snapbucket/C8F64C65.jpg

I cleaned the sensor...
http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r535/brad_sewell/Snapbucket/20682CDD.jpg

And the frame and the two grounds...
http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r535/brad_sewell/Snapbucket/1E882201.jpg

And put it all back together. And believe it or not, the damn thing started. On top of that, I cleared the K codes and Eureka, the INFL REST light did not come back on.

I am man, hear me roar.

Two questions:

1. There is a connector hanging behind the battery box that is not connected to anything. Can anyone tell me what it does? And why isn't it plugged into something else?

http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r535/brad_sewell/Snapbucket/29553864.jpg

2. The conduit that holds the wires that wraps around the inside rear corner of the battery box was cut. I wrapped it in electrical tape because that was the best I had. Is there anything inside this conduit that was getting too hot or shorting out and causing my no-start?

http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r535/brad_sewell/Snapbucket/B9E1146D.jpg

Thanks for tolerating.

[mike100]

Gotta love it when it gets fixed the first time. All of these cars have a few gremlins and once you drive it enough and sort them out, they become more pleasurable once you forget about the hassles of fixing it.

[4-cam]

Is your car a 90? Its the fuel pump test plug. If you jump it to the positive side of the battery with the key on it will run the fuel pumps. I just had to do this on mine.

[tomtom72]

:cheers: all I can say is Kudos to ya! Now you know what it feels like to track down the gremlins, which btw no one else at the dealership seem to care much about, and shoot them in the back of the head! Twice. :mrgreen:

Be proud, be very proud!

:cheers:
Tom

[VetteMed]

Good job!

[GOLDCYLON]

Yeah its the little things. G:cheers:reat job.

[Paul Workman]

Is your car a 90? Its the fuel pump test plug. If you jump it to the positive side of the battery with the key on it will run the fuel pumps. I just had to do this on mine.

I think you meant to say "with the key OFF". (C-post #7) (http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?p=136108) When the key is OFF, the two pumps are tied together via a relay for test purposes. When the key is ON, the relay isolates the pumps.

P.

[4-cam]

You are correct. My memory isn't what it used to be. Thanks for catching that